literary advice: Saag Gosht (lamb with spinach)

Some time ago I wrote about the book I read following the recommendation of Cook the Books Club: Madhur Jaffrey’s Climbing the Mango Trees. Today I am finally posting one of the recipes I made following Jaffrey’s instructions.

This Saag Gosht – lamb with spinach – is really and truly the best I have had

I was really amazed; this is really easy to make, so if you like Indian flavors tie up your most colorful apron apron and let’s get cooking!

You’ll need some specific spices – I am a spice-freak and have all these on hands, but you might have to take a trip to the local Asian store to get a hold of some of these guys.

Here’s what you’ll need to feed 4 people (or two hungry eaters like us):

• 2 lb boneless lamb shoulder (I boned and chopped about 10 lamb chops that I had in the freezer)

• 1 lb of spinach, finely chopped (I used one 1lb container of frozen spinach, which I thawed and zapped in the food processor, making sure to drain most of the water from the thawing)

• 3 inches of grated ginger, chopped

• 6 garlic cloves, chopped

• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder

• 3/4 of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, or any chili pepper powder you have (you could even use crushed red pepper)

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• 2 tablespoons of mustard oil – this might be hard to find, and you could substitute with another high burn-point oil, such as grapeseed oil; in this case add a teaspoon of mustard powder or seed to the dish

• 6 tablespoons of coarsely grated tomatoes (but since tomato season is now pretty much over where I am I used chopped canned tomatoes)

• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon of garam masala (you can find this spice mixture pre-made at any Asian shop or a well stocked supermarket, or you can use on of several variations and make your own).

Preparation

Start by putting in your food processor the ginger and the garlic together with 5 tablespoons of water and blend all together to form a smooth if quite liquid paste. Add to this the turmeric, cayenne (or any hot pepper you are using) and salt, and blend again to mix.

Put a large pan over medium heat and pour in the mustard oil; when the oil is hot (you’ll see the shimmer on it) add the meat and stir around for about 2 minutes. Add the spice paste, stir and cook for about 2 minutes. If you are using thawed spinach this is a good time to put them in the food processor to chop them up. Drop a handful of spinach at a time, stirring them in and, if fresh, wait until they’re wilted to add the next handful. Cover the pan, turn down the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes, making sure there is always enough liquid so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.

After 30 minutes add the tomatoes and turn the heat to medium-high; stir and cook until the liquid is evaporated and the meat starts to brown, about 10 minutes. Cover, lower the heat and cook until the meat is tender, 15 to 25 minutes. There should be a little liquid left to make a thickish sauce.

Sprinkle with cumin and garam masala, stir the spices in, cover and cook on very low heat for another 5 minutes.

You can serve this with pilaf rice or, as I did, with naan bread, but I am sure that it would be delicious with just a good crusty bread.